“Today,” said Steve, “we can’t make all the Berries that everyone wants. I don’t know what happened. Maybe because so many people have moved into Bauville. Maybe because there was a sale on new Zerv High Definition Theater Size Viewscreens at the Want-mart, and
lots of people went out to get them. It was really hot yesterday, and maybe the good citizens of Bauville turned up their Zerv Air Conditioners to make their homes cooler. It could both of those things, and more. What we know is that so many more Berries were being sent to all the homes yesterday afternoon that the Factory was working over its limit, and this morning, when people got up and turned all their Zervs on, it broke down.”


INTERESTING AND COMPLICATED

“Gosh. What will you do now?” Bobby wondered. He was thinking that he couldn’t play games on his Zerv computer.


“First,
we have to fix the Furnace so we can make Berries. Then we have to tell everyone that they can’t ask for all the Berries they want for the Zervs all at the same time. We may have to build another Factory to make more Berries. Or we have to ask everyone to use some Zervs in the middle of the night when the
 

© 2009 Centripetus

pg 6

Did you know?


Coal is the fuel source for about half of the electricity made in America. Coal is delivered to power plants in trains pulling one hundred cars of coal. These are called “unit trains.” See John McPhee’s “Coal Train” New Yorker, 3 Oct 2005